New shopping guide aims at young homeowners

NEW YORK -- Conde Nast Publications is betting that young women shop for rugs and lamps as they do for skirts and shoes.

Conde Nast, parent of Lucky, the five-year-old fashion shopping guide, wants to copy that success with a guide for the home called Domino, that's appearing on newsstands Tuesday.

The magazine features an ecletic mix of styles and prices aimed at young homeowners and renters in their 30s, who treat their homes as an ever-evolving fashion statement.

As some of its traditional fashion magazines like GQ and House & Garden struggle with heavy competition, Conde Nast hopes for another hit like Lucky and Cargo, its male counterpart launched a year ago.

But Martin S. Walker, chairman of Walker Communications, a magazine consulting firm, wonders if this new shopping magazine category will soon lose its luster.

He cites other competitors like Shop Etc. from Hearst Corp. that have also entered into this arena.

"Everyone's jumping on the bandwagon, but is there enough of a market?" Walker asked.

"Advertisers like it because the editorial is about the kinds of things they sell, but readers could soon be jaded with the concept."

Conde Nast executives say traditional home magazines are confusing, dictate one point of view and appeal to older readers in their mid-40s.

"While these magazines are inspiring, they're not useful," said Deborah Needleman, editor-in-chief of Domino.

"We're trying to have the content reflect how people shop for their home."

Needleman says this generation of women views their home as a work in progress and constantly pick up home decor items, kicking off a domino effect.

That's unlike their mothers, who bought complete sets of furniture and only changed every decade. These younger consumers also do more mixing of expensive items with inexpensive, the way they shop for their wardrobe.

Domino spotlights emerging decorators, offers ways to refresh a home and offers shopping tips, such as which flat-screen TV to buy.

The 214-page debut issue is priced at $3.50. Like Lucky and Cargo, Domino offers information on where consumers can buy the items, including phone numbers and Web sites.

Domino is launching at a time when consumers are bombarded with home decor options, particularly from discount retailers, which are sharpening their home fashions.

Target Corp. has expanded its home decor lines with names like Cynthia Rowley and Isaac Mizrahi, J.C.Penney Co. Inc. has added a home line from decorator Chris Madden and even Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is coming out with trendier items.

The nation's retailers are closely watching how Domino fares, hoping that it will have the same effect in boosting sales of featured items as Lucky and Cargo have had.

"Consumers look at these magazines in the way they look at catalogs," said Abigail Jacobs, a spokeswoman at Williams-Sonoma Inc.

"They look for them for shopping recommendations and new trends. But these (guides) give a different kind of credibility."

Amy Theurkauf, 36, who rents an apartment in New York City and a cottage in Salem, N.Y., said she would prefer buying a shopping guide for the home, instead of one for clothing.

"I would read a guide for furniture over Lucky because I am more interested in furniture," she said.

"Furniture is a much bigger investment and so I would like to see my range of choices and prices before purchasing. I don't need a guide to help me choose between jeans, for example, because I will inevitably just buy what fits."

So far, Domino -- scheduled to come out five times this year and 10 times next year -- is off to a respectable start, with 106 advertising pages.

The magazine's launch is Conde Nast's most successful in five years in terms of the number of advertising pages, according to Publisher Beth Brenner. Conde Nast is projecting circulation of 400,000.

Conde Nast executives hope Domino will follow the success of Lucky and Cargo. Since launching in December 2000,

Lucky readership has increased to more than one million from 500,000 according to Mistrella Murphy, a spokeswoman for Lucky and Cargo.

Ad pages rose 20 percent last year.

Cargo has enjoyed a 13 percent gain in ad pages through May 2005, compared to last year.